Faculty Publication Database

Listing of faculty publications on Singapore with available abstracts and links

Please search below from our database of more than 8,000 Singapore-related publications. Updates with abstracts and additions of new publications are ongoing. To search more effectively, please use the MLA or APA citation style which uses the author’s last name and initials.

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This article applies a theoretical approach that focuses on the interaction between media, politicians, activists, and citizens to investigate the influence of social media during two recent general elections in Singapore. Taking into account the combination of authoritarian governance and popular elections in this city-state, this article utilizes a mixed methods approach (i.e., a combination of statistics and virtual ethnography) to analyze four aspects of this influence. First, social media are used by the opposition parties because they are the only alternative to use in disseminating information and fostering dialogue. However, the ruling authorities use the same social media to counter the opposition. Second, social media empower the opposition by serving as efficient tools to mobilize, organize, and engage active citizens. However, compared to the traditional grassroots approach, online mobilization is not as effective as expected. Third, social media are able to change the perceptions of ordinary citizens regarding the opinion climate, which could be to either the advantage or the disadvantage of the opposition. Finally, the youngest age group (i.e., 21–30 years) was surveyed in both 2011 and 2015 to investigate their responses to these changes. Because of the complex influence of social media in Singapore, the citizens in this age group are particularly prone to being swing voters.

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The 2011 Singapore General Election was a watershed election that saw an unprecedented amount of political discourse on social media. It also marked the first time Twitter was used on a large-scale for political communication in Singapore. Interestingly, political discourse on Twitter was found to be different from other online media. This study drew upon framing theories to investigate the alternative frames in Twitter's public discourse about the elections. Using framing analysis a comparative study was carried out between the framing of the general elections in Twitter's public discourse and Singapore's government-regulated mainstream newspaper, The Straits Times. Consistent with previous findings, the study found that election coverage in both Twitter and the mainstream newspaper used game metaframing. However, Twitter and the mainstream newspaper used different subframes, where subframes in Twitter provided an alternative narrative to the official rhetoric in the mainstream newspaper.

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During the 2011 General Election, Singaporeans, on average, did not talk much about the elections. If we only consider talking with family and friends, Singaporeans, on average, sometimes talked about the elections. The lowest frequency was found in talking with people met online. In addition, Singaporeans who talked about the elections found that they disagreed with their fellow discussants only rarely or sometimes. Despite this lack of political talk and disagreement, political talk was perceived to be the second most important information source as well as the third most influential source on voting decisions. However, the trustworthiness of talking was lower than not only mass media but also party sources and alternative websites. Political talk is often linked to demographic factors. People who are 30 years old or younger were more engaged in political talk (including frequency, importance, trustworthiness, and influence) than those who are older than 30. It is consistently shown that engagement in political talk was higher among people who have higher education and income. Almost half (49.6%) of the respondents refused to reveal their voting decisions but those who were willing to say they voted for the opposition were more engaged in political talk than the others. When people who said they voted for People's Action Party (PAP) talked about the elections, they encountered more disagreement than the others.

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For Singaporeans, the year 2015 will be remembered for its grand celebrations of the nation’s 50th year of independence (SG50), as well as the demise of founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. It was also the year the PAP government recaptured its electoral hyper dominance at Singapore’s 13th General Election held on 11 September 2015. This volume analyses the unexpected results of yet another historic election and considers why a change in voting ensued after the ‘watershed’ polls in 2011. Sixteen well-regarded scholars and political observers uncover the key issues raised and evaluate the impact of the 2015 general election from the perspectives of law, history, politics, media, culture and sociology.

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This article examines the relationship between youth, digital technology and civic engagement, within the context of the authoritarian democracy of Singapore. In-depth interviews with 23 young activists were conducted to provide information regarding the emergence of digital activism. The findings are presented in three parts. First, the article explains how activism has been understood in the Singaporean context, and how young activists understand, appropriate or reject this concept. Through this exercise of (re)defining activism, we are able to see how ICT goes beyond its function as a tool, and for young activists becomes an important component of their political lexicon. Second, the article examines generational shift through the young activists’ own accounts of their parents and seniors, including how the prominence of ICT differs between older and younger activists. Third, it explores current use of ICT in activism, examining different types of technology and their advantages and shortcomings.